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by sgteam14283



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-01 16:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15147365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgteam14283/pseuds/sgteam14283
Summary: Ryder is feeling under the weather and Reyes does what he can.





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**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self-indulgent. Enjoy!

Reyes stepped into his apartment and paused when he saw how dark it was. One of the reasons he chose it was because the Kadaran sun cast the interior in warm reds and golds as it set. Among other things.

Hand moving towards his pistol, he waited for the door to close and his eyes to adjust before moving further. Glancing towards the couch he saw that it was empty and Reyes was concerned. He’d gotten a message from Ryder that she’d be at his place and expected to see her at her usual spot on the couch, drink in hand and waiting for him.

_Mr. Vidal, Anna wished for me to inform you that she is suffering from a migraine and is attempting to sleep it off._

“How bad is it?” Reyes asked softly, eyes turning towards the partition and could faintly see the outline of Ryder’s white Initiative armor on the ground. 

_Enough that she had me suppress the pain and nausea until she arrived at the apartment._

“ _Then it must be really bad._ ” he thought while relaxing and ran a hand though his hair. Reyes knew Ryder suffered migraine’s from time to time, but this would be the first time she’d gotten one while on Kadara. Or at least the first one he knew about.

Moving softly towards the make-shift bedroom, he spotted Anna’s face buried in the pillows. Setting his weapons to the side he quickly stripped his flight suit off and slipped into bed. He tried not to jostle the mattress as he moved, but it shifted anyways. Anna let out a slight groan and tried to bury her head even farther into the pillow. 

“Sorry.” Reyes said quietly, putting a gentle hand on her back. “Go back to sleep.”

“Reyes?” Anna mumbled while keeping her eyes closed. Her head felt like it was being squeezed and the sharp pain had her gritting her teeth. Most of the nausea had passed, but she still didn’t trust herself. “What time is it?”

“Just past seven. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Reyes idly moved his thumb back and forth, trying to soothe her. “How are you feeling?”

“Like Drack is sitting on my head.”

“You take anything?” 

“Yeah.” 

Reyes hummed, knowing there wasn’t much he could do. “Why not have SAM take care of it?"

Anna was silent for a moment, trying to think through the haze. “Later? Can’t think.”

“Alright.” 

They lay silent after that, Anna nearly suffocated by the pillow and Reyes gently rubbing her back with his hand. After awhile Reyes could tell by the slow breathing that she’d finally fallen asleep. Slowly slipping out of the bed, Reyes quietly grabbed a shirt before creeping out towards the living room to finish his work.

-

Anna opened her eyes and it took a moment for her to realize that the blinding pain in her head had subsided to a dull throbbing. Opening her eyes, she let them adjust to the still dark room and saw that she was alone on the bed. Cautiously sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, she tried to form a coherent thought but was still struggling.

She hated these kinds of migraines, they made her useless until they went away. Letting her head drop onto her knees, Anna wished that she’d stayed on the Tempest. At least then T’Perro would’ve given her the better painkillers.

“Feeling better?” 

The lights came on low and looking up she saw Reyes rounding the partition, holding a cup. “A little.” 

She hoped that it was tea because that's the one thing she wanted right now. Taking the mug from him, she inhaled and closed her eyes at the scent of her favorite tea. “How long was I out?”

“Pretty much the whole time since I’ve been back.” Reyes sat down on the open side of the bed and watched Anna take a hesitant sip. "SAM told me you'd want some after waking up."

“I’m sorry.” Anna sighed while shifting the mug to one hand and absently rubbing her forehead. The latent heat felt nice on her still tight skin and she felt herself relax a little.

“Why? You know you’re welcome here even when I’m not.” Reyes moved closer to Ryder and leaned towards her, gently trailing his hand around her waist and slipping under her shirt. 

“Not that. Just…this whole thing. I’m sure you didn’t want to be tip-toeing around.” Ryder said as she leaned into his touch. God she had missed him, it had been months since they last saw each other. Helping settle Meridian while still making sure all the outposts were running smoothly kept her running around the cluster. Reyes was just as busy, managing the Collective with Keema while keeping up his smuggling front. That's why she’d been glad to have a legitimate reason to fly to Kadara, only to be derailed by the fucking migraine.

“I didn’t mind. If it was going to be a problem I would have told you. No secrets remember?” Reyes said softly into Anna’s ear before placing a lingering kiss on her neck. He then took the mug from her hands and placed it on the table by the bed.

“Mmm. That was more along the line of you not sharing your alter-ego, but it’s nice to know I can crash here if I need to.”

Laying down, Reyes pulled Anna closer to him and they shifted until both were comfortable. “Why didn’t you have SAM take care of your migraine? I’m sure it would be better in the long run.” 

Anna was silent for a while, so long that Reyes thought she’d fallen back asleep. “I’d still feel it. Like it’d still be in the back of my head and I’d just be tense the whole time, waiting for it to hit me. And that’s not how SAM works, he’s not some magic fix for everything.”

“But you have to admit having an AI change your physiology is handy.”

“For combat yeah. But anything else and it feels like I’m not myself.” Anna sighed, trying to put how she felt when SAM messed with her into something coherent. “Kind of like there’s a piece of the puzzle missing and I’m the only one who knows it. But…thank you.” 

Reyes felt Ryder move closer to him and her breath ghosted across his neck. “You don’t need to thank me.”

Anna raised an eyebrow and smirked, “Oh I don’t huh? Well _that’s_ a shame. Because I had a few ideas on how to.”

“Tomorrow.” Reyes said before he captured her mouth in a heated kiss. With the kett licking their wounds they had all the time in the world.


End file.
